My latest novel is Attack Surface, a sequel to my bestselling Little Brother books. @washingtonpost called it "a political cyberthriller, vigorous, bold and savvy about the limits of revolution and resistance."
My book "How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism" is a critique of Big Tech connecting conspiratorial thinking to the rise of tech monopolies (proposing a way to deal with both) is now out in paperback:
My ebooks and audiobooks (from @torbooks, @HoZ_Books, @mcsweeneys, and others) are for sale all over the net, but I sell 'em too, and when you buy 'em from me, I earn twice as much and you get books with no DRM and no license "agreements."
My first picture book is out! It's called Poesy the Monster Slayer and it's an epic tale of bedtime-refusal, toy-hacking and monster-hunting, illustrated by Matt @MCRockefeller. It's the monster book I dreamt of reading to my own daughter.
If you prefer a newsletter, subscribe to the plura-list, which is also ad- and tracker-free, and is utterly unadorned save a single daily emoji. Today's is "🕵🏾♀️". Suggestions solicited for future emojis!
Gojek is a $10B Indonesian "super app" that combines "Postmates, Apple Pay, Venmo, and Uber" serviced by an army of ojol - drivers - who are subjected to all the high-handed algorithmic horrors that gig workers everywhere suffer through.
But Indonesian ojol aren't helpless before their apps; a legion of toolsmiths produce, share, sell and support "#tuyul apps" named for "a child-like spirit in Indonesian folklore that helps his human master earn money by stealing," which modify the Gojek app.
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As part of her MIT PhD, @qadrida studied Gojek, ojol and tuyul apps, and her account of the grey-market Gojek ecosystem for @motherboard is riveting.
One of the great sf/comics/collectibles stores in America is Houston's @3rdPlanetOnline. One of the worst-managed hotels in America is the Crowne Plaza River Oaks, who happen to be Third Planet's next door neighbors.
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The Crowne Plaza River Oaks is home to routine "physical assault, sexual assault, public disturbances, criminal mischief, burgalry, theft and other criminal activities," which are "permitted to occur on hotel premises."
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Among the many downsides of owning the business next to this hotel? They permit guests and residents to congregate on the fire escape and hurl garbage ("ceramic mugs, plates, silverware, bottles...cinderblocks, luggage racks and ladders") into Third Planet's roof.
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#RightToRepair is a no-brainer. You - not manufacturers - should have the right to decide whom you trust to fix your stuff, even (especially) when that stuff is "smart" and an unscrupulous repair could create unquantifiable "cyber-risk."
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And yet...DOZENS of state #R2R bills were defeated in 2018, thanks to an unholy coalition of Big Ag, Big Tech, and consumer electronics monopolists like @WahlGrooming. That supervillain gang reassembled to fight and kill still more bills in 2020/1.
It's part of the long trend in which all levels of government make policy based on what serves the interests of the rich and powerful, not the people they serve.
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My latest @locusmag column is "Tech Monopolies and the Insufficient Necessity of Interoperability," an essay about the goal of competition and its handmaiden, interoperability, namely, "technological self-determination."
I don't fight monopolies because they're "inefficient." I fight them because they deprive everyone - workers, users, suppliers - of the right to decide how to live our lives, both by eliminating competitors who might offer superior choices and by locking us into their silos.
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A monopolized world is one in which a tiny number of people get the final say over every aspect of your life: where and how you live, work, socialize, shop, politick, love, convalesce - even how you die.
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At its outset, American copyright provided for 14 years of exclusivity, renewable for another 14 years by the author, but - crucially - not by the publisher. This was a shrewd move by the US Framers, because it meant the publisher had to convince the author to file paperwork.
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
Most authors have very little bargaining leverage at the outset of their publishing deals, and even when the author's prior accomplishments afford them some bargaining power, a new book is, by definition, an unknown quantity, and the fair price for it is debatable.
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